The loud ticking of the clock on the wall filled the room, light coming from the datapad resting on the nightstand next to the bed, several messages displaying on the screen. The young squadron commander stared up at the ceiling of her assigned room onboard the Adjudicator, dressed completely in her flight suit as her gloved hands twirled a holo-disk between her fingers. She let out a weighted sigh before sitting herself up, grabbing the datapad.

Her thumb scrolled through the messages, eyes scanning their content before a soft smirk crossed her lips. "A patrol mission..? I... I suppose I could use the distraction. Who knows, maybe something interesting will happen while we’re out?" She said with a weak chuckle, swinging her legs over the edge and onto the floor. Boots met deckplates with a dull thud, the warrant officer standing up slowly, spine popping several times as she stretched. After a minute of holding the pose, she relaxed some. She slid both the datapad and the holo-disk into a pouch on her uniform, then grabbed the flight helmet before making her way out the door. Almost immediately, she bumped into a pair of engineers working on repairing the nearby bulkhead.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" one of the engineers said, glaring at the pilot.

Arianna stopped moving and looked at the two engineers, noting their ranks before speaking. "Sure thing Senior Crewman. I'll be sure to watch out for you. In the meantime, this Warrant Officer has a briefing to get to. So go run along and play with your arc welders," she said with a smirk, continuing down the hall past the two crewmen.

They both looked at each other before the Senior Crewman speaks up. "Damn fighter jocks... think that ‘cause they're going out on missions means they can tell us what to do..." he grumbled, sliding the welding mask down over his face before returning to working on the repairs.

Arianna walked down the durasteel-plated corridor, listening to the thumps of her boots on the flooring, the cracks and pops of the engineers hard at work repairing the vessel. She ducked her head low, hands gripping the helmet tightly as she moved under a low-hanging pressure door, glancing at it behind him as she noted a trio of engineers working on unsticking the large metal portal. She noticed a group of soldiers marching towards her, the SC quickly moving against the wall before the Stormtroopers could run her over. Arianna took note of the fact that they would have easily just run her over and chuckled, remembering her former commander telling her that the helmets were completely impossible to see out of. But, the moment the thought of Cayden, her mood immediately soured, her movements becoming more crisp and firm as she resumed walking towards the briefing room.

The pilot strolled into the room, taking note that she was the first to arrive, and quickly made movements to the desk in front. She seated herself behind it, staring out at the other eleven seats in front of her, sighing some. Arianna set her helmet down on the desk, followed by the datapad and holo-disk, hand resting on top of the disk after she took it out. ’Cayden will be fine… he always is. And even if he isn’t, Commander Kovani won’t let the Ministry collapse’ she thought to herself, removing her hand as a holo image of a Hammerhead Cruiser displayed from the disk. She smiled some at the image, sighing softly as memories of her time aboard the Virulent Glory came back to her. Arianna let out another sigh before she covered the disk up, picking it up and sliding it back into the pocket right over her left breast. 'Shouldn't be too much longer now. Once they're all here, we can begin this meeting... then provide me with distraction enough to be able to do my job here.'

She tapped her fingers on the desk, her free hand fiddling with the datapad before she quickly stood up. 'I'm impatient. Gonna get set up before they get here.' Arianna said inside her mind, sliding over a small holo-projector and set it up on the desk, sliding the datapad into it. She pressed a few buttons, a technical readout and display of a VE standard-issue TIE Interceptor Mk-II appearing above the desk. She pressed another button, the image changing to a 3-D representation of the Sian System. The projection showed two Star Destroyers, the Adjudicator and the Halcyon Warrior entering the system with a small flotilla of smaller support ships in a standard horseshoe defensive posture. Almost upon command, several squadrons of fighters left the two Star Destroyers, one of the squadrons leaving the Adjudicator lighting up green before the hologram zoomed in on them. The projection showed the highlighted squadron of Interceptors, alongside a squadron of plain TIEs, approach the planet Endoven and move into a low orbit to begin patrolling. With a series of taps, the image returned to that of the tech readout. Arianna moved back to behind the desk, seating herself. She leaned back some in the chair, letting out a groan as she realized she was an hour early for the briefing. 'Well...' she thought, turning the projector off. 'Now what to do?'

After about five minutes of sitting, she immediately stood back up and made her way to the door. Walking back out into the hall, she turned a sharp right, making her way back to her quarters. Ducking back underneath the half-closed door, shielding her eyes from the engineers welding several panels back into place in an adjoining locker room. Arianna's boots made louder thuds as she quickened his pace, trying to get back before the briefing was supposed to start. She noticed the two engineers from before up ahead, still outside her quarters. Making sure to not bump into them this time, she managed to slip back into her quarters. With a deep breath, she opened the trunk at the foot of her bed and rummaged through it, moving items about as she searched for something. Eventually she smiled as she took out a holstered SR Combat Pistol, attaching the holster onto her belt. Reassured with the weight of the sidearm on her belt, she closed the trunk and walked back outside, bumping into the two engineers again.

"Blast it all! What is your deal, Vachead??" The Senior Crewman asked, rather loudly, dropping the welder as he stood up.

"Excuse me?" the pilot asked, glaring at the engineer.

"Why in the blasted hell do you insist on disrupting my work??" he said loudly, removing his welder's mask.

Arianna looked at him before smirking a bit. "Because ruining your day is what we... 'Vacheads', as you so artistically refer to us as... do best," she said calmly, patting his shoulder some before walking down the hall. "Best be returning to work before you do something you'll regret."

The engineer stood there, glaring after Arianna, face a deep red as he contained his anger. His partner, a young Twi'lek, touched his shoulder gently. "Come on... let us return to work. We have to have this section finished before the supervisor returns," she said softly, nudging him lightly. With a sigh, the two engineers returned to work, the Senior Crewman vowing to get revenge on the pilot who crossed his path.

After making her third trip down the corridor, Arianna made it back to the briefing room, noting that she was still alone inside the room. She let out a sigh before making her way to the desk, seating herself down behind it as she flipped the projector back on, reviewing the technical readout of the fighter again before everyone else arrived.

OOC:

Alright Aurora Squadron. We have been tasked with a mission of great importance! We're going to do about 2-3 posts from everyone in the briefing room before we deploy in our shiny Interceptor MkIIs. If anyone has questions or needs me for anything, don't hesitate to shoot me a message!

So... let's get to posting Aurora! The Endoven Blockade has begun!

EDIT: Forgot to add this earlier. Story will be taking place about a month after Revival, in case you were wondering!

[This message has been edited by Amacuse
(edited January 24, 2016
10:02:42 AM)]
[This message has been edited by Amacuse
(edited January 24, 2016
10:04:14 AM)]

Trevor EvensonComNet Member

[VE-DJO] Uninitiate[VE-NAVY] Lieutenant

Post Number: 853
Total Posts: 860
Joined: Aug 2005
Status: Offline

RE: Aurora Squadron: Endoven Blockade

January 28, 2016
9:28:37 AM

Trevor sat in one of the many mess halls, drinking a steaming cup of caf and browsing through messages on his datapad. His blond hair had been cropped to regulation length about a week after the Vast Empire revival, and his facial hair was clean shaven, for now. He had lost contact of Tokijin in the hanger during the commotion of getting TIE fighters launched to assist the ground crew, and hadn't heard from her since. The only reason he knew she was still around was because she had been assigned to his flight in the new squadron.

He had been assigned to Sabre Wing in a new squadron, Aurora. He had been given the lead of Flight Two, under command of a Warrant Officer Arianna Blaire. Tokijin had been stationed as Aurora Six. He wasn't sure if she had requested that or their old files had been looked into in making the decision, but he didn't feel completely comfortable with her in that position. Trevor felt he needed to trust his wing man, and wasn't sure he could completely trust Tokijin. But...She passed all the psychological screenings to be fit for duty, so maybe this won't be too bad. He thought.

As he was browsing some messages from Nar Shadda, he received a new one indicating a briefing was going to take place for a patrol mission on Endoven. Boring, but a chance to stretch the old wings, I suppose. Trevor thought. He hadn't been in a TIE in almost a month, instead spending a lot of his time reading up on regulations and spending time in the sims. He shrugged and got up, adjusting his leather jacket. He knew it was regulation to arrive to a briefing in his flight suit, but since he had been off duty he left his quarters in jeans and a plain white t-shirt. After considering for a moment to go change before the briefing, he decided his quarters were too far away and he would change after. It was also regulation to have briefings for patrol missions a minimum of four hours before launch.

Trevor grabbed the paper cup he had been drinking from and brought it with him as he left the mess hall. He had to admit that he wasn't pleased about the assignment of a Warrant Officer as the squadron commander rubber him the wrong way. He could have been understanding if it had been someone who was previous with the VEN, or if he had been assigned to a pre-existing squadron, but Navy Command had his records, they could see what he had done for the Navy before. Instead, they chose a Warrant Officer who had almost no history with the Vast Empire. He took a sip of caf and shook his head. Maybe it'll be fine, hard to tell at this point.

---Later---

It was a long walk from the mess hall he had chosen to the briefing room they were assigned to meet in. Trevor pushed the door open and noted that no one was present. He took a step out of the room and double checked the room number. Briefing Room 3, Level 4. This is it... I must be early. Trevor thought as he looked down at the empty paper cup he was holding. I wonder if I can fill this up somewhere quickly... He thought, glancing up and down the hall. One of the other briefing room doors was propped open and Trevor heard voices inside. He walked down the hall and poked his head in, to find a few janitorial staff sitting around on the desks and chatting. When they noticed him, they jumped up and quickly tried to look busy.

“Hey guys, don't mind me. Everyone deserves a break. You guys know where a guy can get some caf?” Trevor said, waving his empty cup at them. The janitors relaxed a little bit and one of them pointed at a large thermos sitting on a table, next to a box of donuts.

“Last group in here left it behind, should still be fresh though. The donuts seemed to taste fine.” One of the men piped up as he wiped down a couple of desks.

“Thanks!” Trevor replied happily, pouring some of the heavenly brown liquid into his cup and grabbing a donut. He raised his cup to the janitors in appreciation and walked out of the room. As he made his way back to the briefing room he noticed a short woman with long, black, highlighted hair entering the room, dressed sharply in her flight suit. Trevor didn't catch a rank indicator from the distance he was at, but she looked young. Maybe one of the new recruits.

It caught Trevor a little off guard when he entered the room and noticed the woman sitting behind the desk at the front. She turned to look at him and gave him a small frown, which quickly turned into a nervous smile. Trevor's eyes narrowed slightly, and he didn't return the grin.

“You must be new, that's for whoever is giving the briefing.” Trevor quipped, sliding into one of the desks near the front of the room and taking a bite of his donut. The woman's smile disappeared.

“I guess I'm kind of new, but I'm also the squadron commander, so I guess I get to sit up here. I'm Arianna Blaire,” She said, swiping through something on her datapad. “And you must be Trevor Evenson, one of my flight leaders. Pleased to meet you, finally.”

“Likewise, I suppose. And that's Lieutenant Evenson, Warrant Officer.” Trevor replied, drinking his caf and looking as unfazed as ever. Yeah, that's how it's going to be. Trevor thought as Arianna did a quick double take, looking back to the data pad. The frown returned.

’How incredibly arrogant… He seems so sure of himself too…’ Arianna thought to herself, looking down at her gloves before standing up, all five feet and one inch of her. “Alright Lieutenant Trevor Evenson… Let me clear something up for you… And I will only say this once. Regardless of rank, I am your commanding officer. Naval High Command has decided that I am capable of running this squadron. However… If you believe that you would be more qualified, due to your rank and your…” She said, looking over a datapad. “Record of crashing naval fighters, been in several squadrons that have been fazed out following… An operation that has been classified at the highest levels. Most intriguing. And then you… Simply vanished. Left the Vast Empire for reasons and places unknown.”

Arianna smirked softly, setting the device down before walking around the desk. “But I have no desire to learn about your actions here… Oh goodness no. Instead… I want to know what changed the young pilot who did his best to follow the rules, to… Well… Barely one step over a pirate.” She hopped up onto the desk, smiling at Trevor. “A shame… Honor and discipline are values I hold dear… Values I respect. That was the kind of man you used to be, if your record and my observations of you are to go off of.”

Before Trevor had been given a chance to reply, Arianna continued. “Of course… Who am I to ask about your life? Even if I am your commanding officer, this is no place for me to ask about your private affairs. I mean, you don't ask me… Hell, I'm sure you don't care about them. Why would you? I'm just some small girl who is SAYING that she's your squadron commander. Not only that, but I'm also in the position I'm sure you feel entitled to, due to your rank and seniority. But I'm getting off-topic…” She said, starting to pace around up front, ignoring the confused yet slightly amused look on the Lieutenant’s face as she started to get herself flustered and worked up over this. “I'm sure that whatever you did after you left was quite exciting and important, of that I have no doubt… Sure, it's still a mystery and such, but I can live without not knowing!”

Arianna grinned at him before noting the look on his face. “What? Something on your mind, Evenson?”

“No, please… Continue. Watching you ramble on about nothing is quite entertaining,” he said with a slight smile before approaching the front.

She looked away a bit before glaring up at him. “I do not ramble on about nothing! I simply… Work things out in my mind out loud!” She replied with a huff, crossing her small arms across her chest. “Briefing will start in half an hour. Should be plenty of time for you to run back and get into your uniform.” With that, she returned to the other side of the desk and sat down in the chair, arms still crossed over her chest as she stared at her datapad.

"Helloooo!" Came a sing-song voice from the doorway. The two in the room turned to stare at the figure of a freckled, hazel-eyed woman, "Oh this is so excitin’! I can't believe I actually get to fly with Vast Empire history!" She bounced into the room and up to Trevor, "I assume Lieutenant Evenson?" The woman snapped to attention and saluted, still grinning from ear to ear, "I am Senior Crewman Makenna O'Malley! I will be in your flight, Aurora seven, sir! It is an honor."

The Lieutenant seemed to smirk at the other woman in the room before turning back to Makenna, "At ease.”

The woman relaxed her posture only so far as to burst with hyperactive energy, “Lieutenant there are so many questions I want to ask! How has it been to serve here for so many years? Was Nazgul really as glorious as some people say?” her fingers began to drum on her legs as she tried to contain herself, “How did you make it to Lieutenant? Why did you leave-”

“Yes, Lieutenant Evenson can answer your questions after he changes into the proper attire,” came the amused voice of the woman with the crossed arms at the head of the room. Trevor looked pointedly at her. Makenna blinked as she looked between them, confused.

“Yes, Warrant Officer. I’ll make sure to get right on that.”

OOC:

Not much because my brain doesn't want to work, but getting Makenna in the room.

Leading Crewman Robert Messine sighed gently as he looked at his clock, the time appearing sideways before his bleary eyes. Hardly surprising, given he was laying sideways on his bunk.

He had decided it was time to move, he had fallen asleep late last night, having arrived on the Ajudicator merely hours before. Having graduated from Flight School, he had been shipped straight out to join his squadron, apparently comprised mostly of pilots who had already flown with the VE before.

Ah well, at least they’re not totally rookies, I have some experience too, just not with the VE, but it should mean we get things pretty well done, so long as there’s no... Interpersonal issues.He shuddered visibly. Messine was most comfortable behind the cockpit of a starfighter, and typically was solitary on off-duty hours, reading and cleaning and often, taking simulations for preparation.

He had in fact cleaned his cabin when he arrived. In a state of minor annoyance that it’s previous occupant had left a mess, Robert had ensured that everything was spotlessly cleared away, that his datapads and books were stacked neatly, and that his clothing was hung neatly. He had polished his uniform and neatened the bunk. It had taken several hours and this was the principal reason for the fatigue that had sent him to sleep.

As he lay there, he contemplated the turns his life had taken in the past year. In truth, he had barely enough time to wash the blood off his clothes before being forced to flee Corellia. Although he knew he had been in the right, and would’ve done it again in a heartbeat, he expected his former colleagues in CORSEC wouldn’t see it that way...

For a year he had drifted, not really knowing where he would go except as far away from the Core Worlds as possible. As he travelled, he saw the signs of a fractured galaxy. His heart, or what was left of it, swelled with indignation at the lies and propaganda spewed forth by the criminal bureaucracy of the so-called ‘New Republic’ who hypocritically used the same techniques as their enemies, whilst many of the Imperial Remnent factions proved themselves equally ruthless and destructive. Pirates, terrorists and criminals, those regarded by Robert as the scum of the galaxy, thrived in such chaos.

But, when he had arrived on the fringes of Vast Empire space, it had seemed just an issue of mutual advantage. He needed a place to go that wasn’t Corellia, and the VE needed fighter pilots, and an ex fighter jock from CORSEC was not a bad catch. It would at least suffice for a time until he decided to move on again. And given the faction's moral record was rather good by the standards of Imperial factions post-Palpatine, he could've taken worse jobs.

Although he had expected to graduate from the Academy more quickly than the more fresh-faced recruits, he had not expected things to develop at quite that pace. Hell, they hadn’t even really properly checked his background.

As a former security officer, I should have disapproved of that, but under the circumstances it’s probably better. Not that the VE’s information probably reaches as far as Corellia anyway, and it was a year ago...

But, knowing that the VE had recently undergone a renewal, he couldn’t stop the worm of worry creeping into him.

Either the VE thinks I’m better than I believe myself to be, or they’re far more desperate for new recruits than I realised.

But that was by the by now. He had been summoned to the briefing room. Quickly and efficiently getting up from his bunk, and, changing into his flight uniform, he grabbed the flight helmet that designated him as a TIE pilot, tucked it under his arm and swiftly left his quarters.

Arriving fairly efficiently in the briefing room, he took stock of the situation. Having read the datapad files of his squadron mates the day before, he was aware of names and faces, and so knew roughly who he was addressing.

Addressing himself to the small woman at the front of the room, he saluted crisply, keeping his expression neutral.“Warrant Officer Blair, I am Leading Crewman Robert Messine, callsign GreatWolf, I have been assigned to your squadron.” He said.

She returned the salute, giving him a small smile as she did so.

“Welcome Leading Crewman, We are glad to have you in the squadron, your assigned as Aurora 8, meaning Beta Flight,.” she responded briefly.

Gesturing behind him, she pointed out the other two pilots in the room, Robert turned to greet them.

“Lieutenant Trevor Evenson, I’ll be your Flight Leader,” stated the blond man, holding out his hand for a handshake.Wolf returned the shake.“Ah yes, Lieutenant Evenson, the... pirate I’ve heard so much about,” Robert was unable to keep his bottom lip curling in distaste very slightly as he said this, but otherwise kept his expression carefully neutral, not wanting to give the man a hint of his dislike.

He also noticed that the man wasn’t in his flight uniform, instead dressed casually.

Impertinence, this’ll be fun... Then he snapped himself out of it.He’s your Flight Leader Wolf, play nice. He reminded himself.

He turned to meet the face of a young, hazel-eyed and freckled woman. She smiled and pumped his hand excitedly.“Senior Crewman Makenna O’Malley, I’m Aurora 7, so we’ll we wingmates!”Wolf kept his face expressionless as he shook her hand.“So it would seem,” he replied evenly. He wondered if he should say something else, but couldn’t seem to think of what would be appropriate. So he simply broke the handshake.

Difficult social interactions over, he turned back to Commander Blair, saluted once again, and took a seat near the corner of the briefing room, never comfortable with crowds making him the centre of attention. As he sat, he pondered his impressions of the people he would be flying with.

Well, SC seems OK, he thought to himself. Flight Leader might be a problem to get along with, just hope his shooting is better than his attitude. But if my Wingwoman flies as well as she talks it shouldn’t be too unbearable, just so long as they don’t expect me to be sociable between missions. Well, not for a while anyway.

[This message has been edited by GreatWolf
(edited January 30, 2016
11:32:41 PM)]

Trevor EvensonComNet Member

[VE-DJO] Uninitiate[VE-NAVY] Lieutenant

Post Number: 854
Total Posts: 860
Joined: Aug 2005
Status: Offline

RE: Aurora Squadron: Endoven Blockade

February 5, 2016
11:10:15 PM

Trevor smirked and shook his head after the new pilots had mobbed him. He glanced back at the front of the room at the Squadron Commander, receiving a glare in return. She's serious. Alright. He thought with a shrug as he strode out of the briefing room and down the hallway. He had been quartered on the opposite end of the Adjudicator, almost as far as possible from the briefing rooms.

It took him almost fifteen minutes to reach his room, where he hastily dropped his jacket on his cot and grabbed a flight suit from the room's tiny closet. He lost his pants and quickly climbed into the suit, which took a bit of work even when not rushing. After finally getting suited up, he glanced at the helmet sitting on the trunk at the end of the bed. Most of his things had been replaced with updated equipment, but his helmet was a battered as ever. The Nazgul insignia was still painted on the side, and his old callsign was still lettered across the back. Gotta change that, I suppose. Trevor thought.

He left the helmet sitting where it was, as he felt he'd have more than enough time to come back and grab it. He was also going to be late for the start of the briefing, which certainly would not look good. As much as he didn't want to follow Arianna's orders, he knew he had to. He hadn't come all this way, given up what he had, just to get a dishonourable discharge for insubordination.

Another fifteen minutes later he pushed the door of the briefing room open, slightly out of breath. He had had to sprint the last few corridors after one of the lifts stopped on every single floor for passengers. The rest of the squadron had already been seated and Arianna was at the head of the room with the projector displaying an image of a pair of TIE Interceptors. She stopped mid sentence and turned to look at Trevor. The remainder of the pilots in the room also looked at him.

Trevor smiled nervously and gave a small wave, eyeing the room for an empty seat. O'Malley beamed and patted the seat next to her, but Trevor ignored her at first, noting a seat was open next to Tokijin. Her hair had grown slightly longer, it was no longer closely shaven. He crossed the room to take the seat next to her and flashed her a quick smile, which she responded to by heaving her helmet onto the open chair next to her, then looking blankly at the front of the room. Trevor sighed and sat down next to O'malley, who was practically vibrating with excitement.

“Glad you could join us, Blondie. Hah.” Arianna said, laughing a little at what she seemed to think was a joke.

Makenna whirled and looked at Trevor, pausing for a second before spouting an excited, rapid fire question. “Is that your new callsign?”

Damn it.

“I thought it was Ace but I never really knew why.”

Long story.

“This one suits you though.”

Damn it.

“Matches your hair colour.”

No, really?

“I mean-”

“Enough, Miss O'Malley.” Arianna said, cutting her off. Trevor was actually relieved, but only for a moment. “Lieutenant, where is your helmet? It's part of the uniform, after all. And I'm pretty sure I told you to get your uniform.”

Trevor's eyes narrowed as Arianna's lips twitched into the smallest smile. We don't have time for this, do we? She's joking right, she has to be messing with me.

“I'll let it slide this time, you've held us up enough.” She continued. Trevor relaxed slightly and leaned back in his chair, but felt pretty sure O'Malley was paying more attention to him than Arianna.

OOC:

WC: 641. Summary: Got uniform, caused a scene. Briefing is started, everyone who isn't there and still wants to post getting there better catch up quickly. Sorry GreatWolf, wanted to include you in this one somehow but not 100% sure the best way to have done that. Next one, though.